JOHANNESBURG, Jan 21- Africa's biggest pay-TV business Multichoice plans to pay a 2.5 billion rand dividend two years after leaving its parent of three decades- media and e-commerce group Naspers- and pursuing a listing solo in South Africa. Multichoice chief financial officer Tim Jacobs said on Monday the firm would make its first payment to shareholders in...

NAIROBI, Jan 17- Kenya's biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom, notched up one million users for its new overdraft feature on the M-Pesa platform in just eight days, surpassing its CEO's expectations, he said on Thursday. Safaricom, part-owned by South Africa's Vodacom and Britain's Vodafone, launched the new overdraft feature called Fuliza on Jan. 7 this year.

Gunmen blasted their way into a hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and sending workers diving under desks to escape an attack claimed by Somalia-based Islamist group al Shabaab.

LONDON, Jan 15- Lawyers for Vedanta Resources told England's Supreme Court on Tuesday that a case raised against the mining company by nearly 2,000 Zambian villagers should be heard in Zambia not London. India- listed Vedanta, which delisted from London last year but maintains a legal base in Britain, is appealing a lower court ruling that a case in which...

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 WARSAW- National Bank of Poland holds monetary policy council meeting. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9 BUDAPEST- Hungarian Central Bank to publish the minutes of its December 2018 rate-setting meeting- 1300 GMT. BUDAPEST- The National Bank of Hungary to hold a non-rate setting meeting- 1300 GMT.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4 PRAGUE- Czech National Bank will release the minutes of its December 2018 monetary policy meeting- 0800 GMT. **WARSAW- National Bank of Poland holds monetary policy council meeting. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9 BUDAPEST- Hungarian Central Bank to publish the minutes of its December 2018 rate-setting meeting- 1300 GMT.

*Ethiopian creating hubs in Chad, Malawi and Togo. *Airline is biggest in Africa by fleet size. NAIROBI/ ADDIS ABABA, Nov 23- Ethiopian Airlines is accelerating its strategy of weaving a patchwork of new African routes to soak up traffic on the continent and fly customers towards its more lucrative flights to rapidly expanding Asian markets.

NAIROBI, Nov 9- Kenya and China signed an agreement on Friday allowing the East African country to export various agricultural products to China, a senior Kenyan government official said. Waita said on Twitter the agreement would pave the way for Kenya to start exporting a selection of fruit and vegetables, flowers and meat to China. Like other African nations,...

*Kenya deal boosted sales, Suzuki to expand in Uganda, Tanzania. Africa should be a huge growth market for automakers. But many in Africa cannot afford to buy a vehicle, particularly just for personal use.

NAIROBI, Nov 2- Kenya's Safaricom Plc warned on Friday that steep increases in taxes on mobile telephone and mobile internet access services could slow its momentum in the second half. The company, part-owned by South Africa's Vodacom and Britain's Vodafone, said its core revenue for the first half to the end of September rose 7.7 percent to 118.21 billion...

*Deal would give Rubis an entry into East Africa. NAIROBI, Oct 24- Kenya's Capital Markets Authority said on Wednesday it had begun an investigation into irregular share trades in relation to a takeover offer for KenolKobil by French fuel storage and distribution company Rubis. "Consequently, in connection with these investigations the Authority has...

*Deal would give Rubis an entry into East Africa. NAIROBI, Oct 24- French fuel storage and distribution company Rubis SCA has offered to buy Kenyan oil marketer KenolKobil Ltd to get a toehold in East Africa, the companies said on Wednesday. Rubis, which is active across Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, has purchased nearly a quarter of the shares of KenolKobil on the...

Acacia, which is Tanzania's largest gold miner, is locked in a long-running dispute with the government which has accused the company of tax evasion. After taking office in 2015, President John Magufuli launched an anti-corruption drive and vowed to stamp out tax evasion by multinational companies in Tanzania's mining and telecoms sectors.